Worm composting problem (I think?)

Hi,

I've just started my worm composter about 3 weeks ago, I made it from buckets, it has all the standard things needed, air hole everywhere on the sides and top, holes on bottom (with mesh over them to stop worms dropping out), this is incase any liquid needs to be released. I added a little bit of old compost from garden pots in the base, then shredded damp cardboard. I have been adding bits of veg waste (blended), powdered egg shells to help the worm eat (as they have no teeth) and some of my home made worm food. But today I've noticed a big pile of fluffy white mould on the top of the worm bin, is this normal? Why is it there? I thought the worms were supposed to eat the mould? Should I mix it in with the upper layer?

I'm using dendrobaena worms

Thanks

I don't know if that mold is necessarily a problem, but it can be a sign that your bin is a bit out of balance. It may be a bit too wet, or you may be overfeeding your worms; basically feeding more than they can digest in a reasonable amount of time. If it were me, I would probably dig around with my hands, mixing things up and seeing how it all looks. If it looks really wet, or there is a lot of indigested food, I would mix in a good bit of dry cardboard or other bedding, both to sop up some of the extra moisture, and to help balance out any extra high-nitrogen food that might be there, helping to bring the bin back into balance. Many people don't add enough high-carbon bedding to the bin, or neglect to continue adding it when they feed, which can quickly bring the bin out of balance.

Going forward, you may want to add some dry bedding (like cardboard) every time you feed. Blended food is great for many reasons, but it's important to understand that releases a lot of liquid all at once, which can make your bin soggy. A nice pad of dry bedding, directly under the blended food, addresses this problem nicely.

It's also important to give your bin time to "mature". It actually becomes a complex ecosystem; with lots of little microorganisms helping the worms do their job. You want to be very careful not to overfeed, and provide plenty of bedding during this early stage. As those microorganisms proliferate,  you can gradually start adding more food. It should start breaking down faster than when the bin was just starting out and was more sterile.

Here is an awesome blog for further reading. This particular post addresses mold in the bin and what it can mean. https://www.redwormcomposting.com/general-questions/lots-of-mold-in-my-worm-bin/

The mold in the bin is entirely fine. I've been keeping worms for 30+ years, and the mold won't hurt them at all. In fact, my big bathtub worm bin currently has a fair amount of mold tucked here and there. In a brand new worm bin, usually a bigger problem is overfeeding, so be conservative on how much you put in there. Watch to see that the worms are starting to actively engage with the most recent bit of food before you add more. As the worms get more comfortable in the bin, their appetites will grow as will their population.

Lila Stevens wrote:I don't know if that mold is necessarily a problem, but it can be a sign that your bin is a bit out of balance. It may be a bit too wet, or you may be overfeeding your worms; basically feeding more than they can digest in a reasonable amount of time. If it were me, I would probably dig around with my hands, mixing things up and seeing how it all looks. If it looks really wet, or there is a lot of indigested food, I would mix in a good bit of dry cardboard or other bedding, both to sop up some of the extra moisture, and to help balance out any extra high-nitrogen food that might be there, helping to bring the bin back into balance. Many people don't add enough high-carbon bedding to the bin, or neglect to continue adding it when they feed, which can quickly bring the bin out of balance.

Going forward, you may want to add some dry bedding (like cardboard) every time you feed. Blended food is great for many reasons, but it's important to understand that releases a lot of liquid all at once, which can make your bin soggy. A nice pad of dry bedding, directly under the blended food, addresses this problem nicely.

It's also important to give your bin time to "mature". It actually becomes a complex ecosystem; with lots of little microorganisms helping the worms do their job. You want to be very careful not to overfeed, and provide plenty of bedding during this early stage. As those microorganisms proliferate,  you can gradually start adding more food. It should start breaking down faster than when the bin was just starting out and was more sterile.

Here is an awesome blog for further reading. This particular post addresses mold in the bin and what it can mean. https://www.redwormcomposting.com/general-questions/lots-of-mold-in-my-worm-bin/

I always add roughly 30% green (nitrogen) to 70% shredded cardboard to stop too much issues. Its all ok now, i mixed in the mould with the top layer and its been eaten by the worms as it has not come back. When i blend the food i freeze it for a minimum of 3 days, then when i need it i use a large bowl and put lots of shredded cardboard in the bottom, place the frozen blended food on top, add more shredded card on top of this and leave for 24hrs. Then i mix it all together so the high liquid content is soaked into the cardboard, if its still a little liquidy i will add some of my dry home made worm food.

Ronnie Ugulano wrote:The mold in the bin is entirely fine. I've been keeping worms for 30+ years, and the mold won't hurt them at all. In fact, my big bathtub worm bin currently has a fair amount of mold tucked here and there. In a brand new worm bin, usually a bigger problem is overfeeding, so be conservative on how much you put in there. Watch to see that the worms are starting to actively engage with the most recent bit of food before you add more. As the worms get more comfortable in the bin, their appetites will grow as will their population.

Yeah i found out its ok, i mixed it all in the top layer and it never came back so the worms have eaten it. I generally dont overfeed, i recently went away for 2 weeks and added a bit more (1kg food per 2kg worms), when i came back it had all been eaten, no problems.

Another question is .. Once the bins get full of worms will they stop breeding? My first small bin now has a lot of really large dendra worms, i did buy another container about 7 times the size and started another one, but i'm hoping they will not keep breeding once full, and start dying off from being overcrowded. Its winter here in the UK so i don't use them for fishing right now, which means they are increasing a lot (I keep them in the conservatory to keep them warm).

My house kitchen looks like a laboratory now lol, blenders, digital measuring equipment, freezers full of blended foods, containers / packets of dry home made powdered worm foods spread all over the kitchen counters lol. The Mrs isn't happy haha